Man Accused of Exposing Himself at U of M

Contributor: Shane Myers Email: smyers@myeyewitnessnews.com Last Update: 6:26 pm

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Booking Photo: Lee Arthur Rayford

MEMPHIS, TN – Memphis police say a man has been arrested after he was accused of exposing himself to a woman at the University of Memphis.

It happened in the 500 block of Patterson, February 10, 2009.

According to a police affidavit, a woman told officers she was sitting on the steps of Patterson Hall when a man in a black Ford Focus was masturbating and exposing his genitals to her. The woman told investigators that she then called her mother to pick her up and they called police. She told officers the man had done this same thing before in September of 2008.

Police say the victim wrote down the man’s license plate number before he drove away. Investigators say the woman was able to identify the man in a photo lineup.

Lee Arthur Rayford, 39, was arrested and charged with two counts of indecent exposure. Investigators believe he may be responsible for similar cases.

Commercial Appeal publishes celebrity gun permit data

I don't agree with the Commercial Appeal's decision to make the Tennessee Department of Safety's Handgun Carry Permit data easily available to everyone on earth who has an internet connection.

I don't think this gun permit info should be available so I won't publish it here. To me, it is private and should stay private. But if you have some time on your hands, you can click here and search the database for yourself.

In case you do not know- a TN Handgun Carry Permit(HCP) allows the holder to carry a loaded handgun wherever it is permitted by law. Obtaining the HCP requires paying for and passing a class, getting fingerprinted, and passing a TBI background investigation. Permit holders generally get the HCP for lawful self defense. The permit is revoked if the holder gets into certain kinds of trouble, like domestic violence.

The Commercial Appeal has decided to publish all of this data on their website, uncensored, with no regard for the privacy of TN citizens who hold the HCP.

I am a curious sort, a data voyeur. I discovered that in our fair zip code of 38111 the Commercial Appeal database has outed, among others, someone with the name Calipari as holding a valid permit to carry a handgun. This info is available to anyone in the world who has internet access.

And there are some other names y'all might recognize, political, sporting, etc.- - Flinn, Naifeh, and Hardaway. And some from an Oscar-winning rap band 3-6 something or other. You figure it out.

I wanted to illustrate how inappropriate it is to have these records totally open so I twice posted on the CA website data regarding someone named Calipari and someone named Hardaway.

To my surprise (not really) the CA deleted my posts. Not once, but twice. If it was inappropriate for publication on their website, why did they give me unrestricted access to the data?

Apparently someone at the CA doesn't want the info that I openly obtained from their website posted publicly on their website.

Huh? You can't have it both ways, CA.

Why is it so important to the CA that we have access to the Calipari or Hardaway data? Do we benefit somehow by knowing about Flinn and Naifeh? Or my friend Sharon in Germantown? I personally felt ok not knowing about it.

Now that I know about Calipari, Flinn, Hardaway, 3-6 and lots of others. I really don't feel any better or safer. I don't see how this serves the public interest or anyone outed by the CA making the data easily available. Do you?

But now even some internet dweeb in Kirkuk can find it all out thanks to the CA's largess.

Now, in all fairness to the CA, the data is available because the state of TN says it should be available. That is a problem that requires a legislative solution.

But just because you can, CA, it doesn't mean you should.

Have some class. Take down the database.

Man Exposing himself on Echles Saturday Feb 7th

From Christy Leard--

This past Saturday around 1:00 p.m., one of our NSNA newsletter distributors happened upon an individual that was exposing himself and performing an indecent act.

He was in a small white compact car close to the southwest corner of Kearney and Echles (parked on Kearney). The newsletter distributor made eye contact with him then realized what he was doing. She was shocked and immediately crossed the street. He was reclined in the vehicle but was very aware that what he was doing could be easily seen by anyone walking or driving past. He then began to watch her. She pulled out her cell phone and he quickly drove off.

The description is young black male- fair skin tone. No make and model on the car- small white compact.

I will be emailing the MPD and UOM Campus police as well so they can be on the look out.

This was disturbing to say the least as the female neighbor normally has 1 or 2 of her granddaughters walking with her while distributing the newsletters.

Christy Leard

The Whole Foods Violent Robbery

The Headlines: you can find the original stories at these links.

Woman Attacked in Whole Foods Parking Lot

Woman robbed, beaten in East Memphis parking lot

Brutal Purse Snatching at Popular East Memphis Store

Mayor Herenton Responds About Crime

Cliff's Comments: Well, this really stinks, but it doesn't stink any more than any of the other crime I read about daily in Memphis. I think because it is so close to home it registers more- it is part of my everyday reality. A lot of us in Normal Station shop at Whole Foods (formerly Wild Oats, formerly Squash Blossom) at Poplar and Mendenhall. If you don't shop there, you probably shop at another store in the immediate area- Kroger, Home Depot, Office Depot, and a lot of smaller specialty shops and restaurants.

According to Channel 24, there have been 318 reported robberies at this point in 2009- that is an 11% increase over the same time period in 2008.

Legalese Terminology note: A robbery is theft from a person through force or intimidation; burglary is a theft from a residence or business usually when no legal property resident is present. This report is about a violent robbery. When someone steals your lawnmower out of your tool shed, in legal terms you have been burglarized.

This violent robbery was perpetrated against Marla Brown, 61, a Cordova resident, but it could have happened to any of us: you, a family member, friends, or a loved one. I shop there. My wife and daughter shop there. For awhile, at least, I imagine that we will be a little more wary when we shop there.

My wife is a professor at U of M. Last summer one of her colleagues, a professor in the Sociology Department, had her purse stolen in broad daylight while she was enjoying an ice cream cone from Ben & Jerry's across the parking lot from Whole Foods.

How would it feel if this were to happen to you or a loved one?

Here's what occurred : (Mostly from News Channel 3 and the Commercial Appeal)

Around 10 am Marva was loading groceries into her car in the parking lot outside of Whole Foods near Poplar and Mendenhall. According to Marva, "I reached over to put my purse on the other side of the console, with that Thud! On the back of my head, just a big hard smack, and my arms were trapped underneath me," she said.

Again and again, she says the man hit her.

"He was mumbling something, I couldn't understand him, but later I realized he was saying 'Give me your purse, give me your purse!'"

"I thought to myself, its over, I'm not going to make it through this," she said.

She passed out. When she regained consciousness, she discovered her purse was missing. Blood was everywhere.

"There was just blood all over from my nose and all down my shirt and coat, it was just pouring down," she said.

"I would tell other women," says the victim, "they shouldn't run errands alone and to watch what you carry. Don't take your purse with you if you don't have to and be aware of your surroundings."

After a moment of silence she looks up and says, "I've tried to be careful. But careful or not, it can happen to you."

(From Channel 24) Marva Brown is a member of a group called Mid-South Moms. When the head of Mid-South Moms, Ann Sharpsteen, found out about the attack on Marva, she sent an email to Mayor Willie Herenton. About a half hour later, she says she received a phone call from Mayor Herenton.

"I didn't expect to ever get a meeting or a phone call." She says even more surprising than the phone call was the conversation that followed. "The most troubling part of the conversation was that he said it's going to get worse. It was a very troubling thing to hear." Troubling to hear, but Memphians like Vickey Lowe say sometimes the truth hurts. "it tells me he's in touch with what's going on in Memphis because when they say everything is okay... no, it's not. we're out here living this so we know it's getting worse."

Cliff's Comments below:

2 major points:

1. It can happen to anyone anywhere.
   
2. The mayor said he thinks crime is going to get worse.

Thus, some questions: What are you personally going to do to deal with this? How are we as a community going to respond to an increase in violent crime? What actions are we really willing to take?

I'll write more in my next post about solutions individuals and families can take to decrease the likelihood of being victimized during routine shopping trips.